By Jun Ji-hyeNCSOFT's mobile megahit game "Lineage M" has maintained the top position in the mobile game market for a year, with market observers estimating the game's sales at about 1.5 trillion won ($1.4 billion). The prolonged popularity of "Lineage M" is considered unprecedented, given that the "lifespan" of a mobile game is shorter than that of a PC game. "Lineage M," the mobile version of its massively multiplayer online role playing games (MMORPG), "Lineage," was released in June last year in several countries including Korea and Taiwan. Since then, it has been the most popular game app on the Google Play Store.NCSOFT has never revealed the exact sales of "Lineage M," but brokerages estimated the sales accumulated until the first quarter of this year were 1.2 trillion won, with the firm expected to earn an additional 240 billion won during the second quarter.As soon as it was launched, "Lineage M" beat Netmarble Games' "Lineage 2 Revolution," which had been the most popular game at the time, and since then has not lost its No. 1 spot even after several formidable rivals such as Pearl Abyss' "Black Desert" were released.The game has also set the record of 13 billion won in sales in a day on July 1 last year.Shinhan Investment estimated the game's sales on a daily basis at 7.7 billion won on May 30 and 9.9 billion won on June 1. Amid the enduring popularity of "Lineage M," NCSOFT enjoyed strong performance during the first quarter, posting 475.2 billion won in sales and 203.8 billion won in operational profit. The sales and operational profit increased by 98 percent and 570 percent year-on-year.NCSOFT is now planning to make a foray into the global market in earnest with "Lineage M."During a press conference held in Seoul in May, NCSOFT CEO Kim Taek-jin told reporters the firm has been preparing for the global launch of the mobile game."With Lineage M, we will challenge the global market," he said, noting that the firm will soon unveil the global version of the game. NCSOFT officials said they formed a special team for the mobile game's global introduction.Japan is expected to be the first country where the game will be released, then North America will be next and then China.